The forests of Ogooué-Ivindo (Gabon) facing hopes, expectations and issues of development

Abstract (English)

This communication proposes to discuss the relationships to forest land expressed and experienced by the inhabitants of Ogooué-Ivindo in Gabon. This heavily forested region in the northeast of the country was affected by the creation of national parks in the mid-2000s, but for a long time it was left out or set aside in the Gabonese government's policies of development and industrial extraction of raw materials. It is only in recent decades for timber and in recent years for gold and iron that industrial operations have really been undertaken in the region.

While these political economic trends all have an impact on forested areas, it is worth looking at the experiences of the people affected by these social changes, at the way in which the inhabitants of the city of Makokou (the provincial capital) and its surroundings base their hopes or expectations on these developments, whether current or planned, as well as the problems or difficulties they encounter in the concrete modalities of value production. To this end, it will be necessary to begin by providing information on the demographic structure of the region and then look at the ways in which they are perceived as sources or places from which it is possible to derive income. This will involve, on the one hand, showing the differences between formal and informal activities and organizations and, on the other hand, looking at individual paths that can overlap or collide with this opposition depending on the opportunities or circumstances. Finally, it will be possible to offer food for thought on the links between material social changes and imaginaries in relation to the forest. The conclusion will put into perspective the transformations of human/forest relations in the region and suggest practical solutions to the problems diagnosed.